Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea’s Constitutional Court dismissed on Friday an appeal by a group of women forced to work in Japan’s wartime military brothels to strike down an agreement signed by the two countries to settle claims over the abuse.

The ruling is expected to have little impact on the 2015 agreement as it has been effectively abandoned by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who has called it seriously flawed and inadequate to resolve the issue that has been for many years a source of rancor between the neighbors.

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Growth in Cambodia’s economy is expected to slow slightly next year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday, warning that it would be hit much harder if the European Union suspends preferential trade terms.

Without a suspension, the economy is expected to grow 6.8% in 2020, compared with 7% in 2019, driven by garment exports, the IMF said.

Private sector credit, increasingly concentrated in the real estate and construction sectors, has accelerated and is expected to grow around 28 percent in 2019.

SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- South Korean Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul on Friday stressed a need for an interim deal in denuclearization talks between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States as part of efforts to keep the dialogue momentum alive.

Kim made the remark during a press conference with local reporters, saying a tentative agreement as the stepping stone to a final agreement, that is to say a "wisdom of modus vivendi," would be necessary to keep situations from worsening and revive the negotiations momentum.

BEIJING (AP) — China said Friday its Beidou Navigation Satellite System that emulates the U.S. Global Positioning System will be competed with the launch of its final two satellites in the first half of next year.

Project director Ran Chengqi told reporters that the core of the positioning system was completed this month with the launch additional satellites bringing its total constellation to 24.

That was up from 19 the year before, making it one of rising space power China’s most complex projects.

BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets were mixed Friday after Wall Street rose amid optimism that U.S.-Chinese trade relations are improving.

Frankfurt, Paris and Hong Kong gained in early trading. London and Shanghai were unchanged and Tokyo declined.

Investors welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump’s comment that an interim “Phase 1” trade deal was “getting done.” Trump said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping would hold a signing ceremony.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan on Friday approved a contentious plan to send its naval troops to the Middle East to ensure the safety of Japanese ships transporting oil to the energy-poor country that heavily depends on imports from the region.

The Cabinet’s decision reflects tensions that have escalated between Iran and the U.S. since President Donald Trump withdrew from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal.

TENGGULUN, Indonesia (AP) — The young Balinese widow stared across the courthouse at the man who had murdered her husband and 201 others, and longed to see him suffer.

Ever since that horrible night, when she realized amid the blackened body parts and smoldering debris that the father of her two little boys was dead, Ni Luh Erniati’s rage at the men behind the bombing had remained locked deep inside. But now, it came roaring out.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan on Friday revised a roadmap for the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant cleanup, further delaying the removal of thousands of spent fuel units that remain in cooling pools since the 2011 disaster. It’s a key step in the decadeslong process, underscoring high radiation and other risks. The government and the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., still keep a 30- to 40-year completion target.

A look at some of the challenges:

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MORE THAN 4,700 UNITS OF FUEL IN POOLS

PHNOM PENH, Dec 27 (NNN-AKP) – Cambodian Prime Minister, Samdech Techo Hun Sen, said, the recent meeting of leaders of China, Japan and South Korea, boded well for Asia’s economy and stability.

The 8th China-Japan-S.Korea leaders’ meeting was held in China’s southwestern city of Chengdu on Tuesday, and the leaders agreed to further promote cooperation, uphold free trade and multi-lateralism and realise the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 27 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Visit Malaysia 2020 which will be launched in a few days, continues to be actively promoted, with the aim of receiving 30 million foreign tourists and contributing to the tourism industry with earnings of RM100 billion.

Tourists from Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Brunei and China are expected, along with visitors from Europe and the Middle East, said Tourism Malaysia director-general Datuk Musa Yusof, in an interview with Bernama recently.